Blue Flames
by Zelda gamer 137
Summary: Skyloft is the most peaceful place in the sky. But when a mysterious man appears in the middle of the night, bleeding to death it's up to Link and Zelda to nurse him back to health. He calls himself Soren, but claims he has no memory of who he is. Once he's back on his feet, he won't sit still and strange things follow his actions. Are the scripts true? Is this the hero of Legend?
1. Chapter 1

Link's POV

"Wha? No one's supposed to be out at night." I thought to myself during my nightly patrol. There was a man lying in the ground in front of the Light Tower.

"Excuse me, sir." I paused. Should I call him sir? He looked full grown. Or was he just large? I shook my head and continued. "Sir, you really shouldn't be out alone at night. There are dangers here."

The man didn't stir. Drunken no doubt. I rolled my eyes. So much for sir. I continued with it anyway. "Sir, I really need you to come with me. Are you conscious?" I called, stepping towards him.

I stopped dead, hearing a small splash at my feet. I lifted one foot, but with it being so dark, I couldn't make out the color of the liquid. Was it water? So he went for a swim, then passed out in front of the Light Tower?

I gazed up at the marble structure. In old scripts it was said that one day the Light Tower would glow. That meant a hero would come to save Skyloft from a terrible enemy. A hero of blue flames.

I shook my head again and nudged the man with my foot, saying, "Hey you. Please get up. I don't want to drag you anywhere." He whimpered and curled himself into a tight ball.

Panic welled up in my chest as a pulled a torch from my belt and shone it down on him. He was definitely not drunk; he was bleeding to death and I was hyperventilating.

"Panicking is not something they taught you to do in knight school." I scolded myself. But neither was saving a dying man's life!

I pulled him out of his awkward position. I looped my arms under his in an attempt to drag him to safety, but to no avail. He was too heavy to take anywhere.

Eventually I collapsed from exhaustion, close to tears; I was terrified. "Oh goddess of the skies, please help me save this man." I silently prayed, beginning to cry.

The wind swirled around my head and a drop of sweat rolled down my forehead.

"Link? Is that you? What are you doing there?" The goddess heard my prayers. "Pipit," I said, weakly, "help me."

He saw how pale I was and nodded, confused. "By the goddesses!" he exclaimed, seeing the injured man, "Who is that?" "I do not know." My friend did not ask anymore questions.

With our combined strength, we managed to lift him off the ground. "To my mother's house." Pipit gasped. Along the way, the man seemed to arouse slightly.

"W-who...are..."

"Shh. It's alright." the yellow clad knight said, "You must save your energy. I'm Pipit and that's Link."

Fierce blue eyes roved over me and I forced a smile. "I - I'm...I'm..." was all he said before passing out again.

I reached up, with difficultly, and knocked on the door to Pipit's house. We were greeted with a warm smile. "Boys!" said Pipit's mother, "I thought you were in patr-... oh."

She caught sight of the man. Her eyes widened as she looked between me and Pipit and the bleeding man. "Mallara." I said, desperately, "Please. Help us." She stood there in shock for several seconds. I was loosing my strength.

"Come in. Quickly." she said. She opened the door all the way to admit the large man, then slammed it shut behind us.

"Here. Put him here." she said, clearing her dining room table. We slid him onto the table.

"Pipit. Dig through the medicine cabinet and get me the green bottles and the syringe. Link, grab me some rags and a bowl of water. I'll get the bandages."

I didn't move for a moment. The man was dressed so strangely. He had a cape on. Who was he?

"Link! We need that water!" I jumped and ran to the sink.

The man woke up. He was gasping and groaning. "Help...please." he said.

I carried the water and rags back to Mallara as quickly as I could. She cut open his shirt, dipped a rag into the water, and squeezed the water onto his wounds.

He cried out loudly.

"Pipit. I need that syringe!" "Coming!"

His blood covered hands were shaking violently, but he stuck the needle into the bottle and handed it to his mother. The man was screaming by this point.

"Hold him." she commanded me, calmly.

I unknotted his cape and pulled it out from under him, then seized his shoulders firmly. My hands were shaking as badly as Pipit's.

Mallara pressed the needle into his arm and pushed the top to inject the liquid. The man whimpered again and his eyes met mine. They were glassy and full of pain. Then they were closed and Mallara removed the needle.

The screaming was finished, but the panic was not. Pipit was mixing herbs into a paste. I dipped another rag in the water bowl and started to clean his chest.

Under the bright kitchen light, I could see the wounds clearly. The worst was in his stomach; a large, flat wound and all over his chest and arms were cuts of varying sizes.

"It looks like...he got in a sword fight." Pipit commented, spreading the paste on the cleaned cuts.

His mother started wrapping him with the bandages. "Nonsense." she said, "Only legal knights carry swords." "I never said he was armed."

"Well, he looks like he could." I said. I wasn't joking. His arms were firm and strong and his chest was very well muscled.

The bright white bandage around his chest turned scarlet. Pipit and his mother sat down, exhausted. I

didn't move. I took the last clean rag and started to clean the man's dirt and blood covered face. The water I squeezed from the rag dripped into his hair and washed the dirt from it. It's brown color faded away into..."Blue." I whispered.

Pipit and his mother looked up. I looked at them. "He...has blue hair." I stuttered. Mallara cringed when she saw the man's true hair color. Blue hair was not a good sign nowadays.

It was a sign of evil.

**A/N: Hey everyone. I'm just letting you know that this story will not be updated very often because I'm currently writing another fanfic and a book series. At the same time. I will write in it, I promise. Just not as often. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay. This won't be updated very often UNLESS I get over excited. And today I got over excited so... Here's another chapter. Lol. I'm probably going to be late updating my other story. Oh well. Author does as author pleases. :)

?'s POV

Where was I? Horrible things flashed through my mind. I saw blood, death. Who was dying? What was going on?

"Soren." I muttered, "Crimea. Dead. What..."

A scream echoed through my head. I sat, bolt right up.

My ribs crushed in on themselves, needles jabbed my stomach, and claws raked down my skull. I was dead.

"Shh. Calm down. Just lie down, okay?" A gentle voice spoke to me. Small hands guided me back down on something soft.

My eyes eased open. My vision was blurry, but I saw a face. "Dead..." I whispered.

"No," said the face, "You're not dead."

My vision cleared further and I could finally see the face. The beautiful, beautiful face. She had a long golden hair framing her pale face and sky blue eyes above her rosy cheeks and bright pink lips.

"Dead...angels..." I said.

The girl shook her head, pityingly. "No. You're alive, Soren. You're going to live."

Soren? Was that my name? Who was I? Where was I?

The girl placed something warm over my eyes and I fell back asleep.

...

A golden flash. A strong hand. A horrible face, laughing at me. Pain everywhere. I was dying. My face hit the ground and my eyes flew open.

I gasped as the real pain hit me again.

Sunlight shone through an open window above my head. Birds twittered outside and breeze blew through and ruffled my hair.

I tried to push the white sheets off of me, but I couldn't move. My whole body was seized up.

I quietly cried out in panic. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I move? I saw a small movement to my right.

I turned my eyes towards it and saw a man. He was around my age, with dirty blonde hair and sharp features. He wore simple clothes and was sleeping on a chair next to me. The moment I looked at him, he woke up. His eyes were ice blue.

"Good morning." he said with a yawn, "How're you feeling?"

I grunted, panic still welling in my chest. "I can't move." said a weak voice. It took me a moment to realize that the voice belonged to me. It sounded so strange, so pitiful.

The man nodded, grimly. "I thought not. Don't worry though. It'll be okay. Your body is just in shock. You won't be able to consciously move for a few more days."

I felt sick. He got up and grabbed a glass of water from a nightstand.

"I'm not dead?" I asked. He slid a hand under my head and put the glass to my lips. "Try not to talk too much. Your throat's damaged enough as it is."

The water burned going down. I choked. "Who...are you?" I asked, finally fully conscious.

"My name is Link. Me and my friends have been taking care of you while you were injured." He looked me dead in the eye. "Zelda has taken to calling you Soren."

"Soren? ...Why?" "You talked a lot while you were out. You said Soren for the first few days. Shouted it most of the time."

"Who's Zelda?" "Zelda's one of my friends. Besides that. She may like the nickname, but I'd rather call you by your real name. What is it?"

I wanted to reply, I really did. But my mind was blank. Name? What was my name? I should know, shouldn't I? Who was I? It was like I had woken up from a very long dream that I could remember nothing of.

"I... I don't know." I admitted.

Link raised his eyebrows. "You don't know?" I tried to shake my head, but still couldn't move.

"What happened to you?" My mind was still blank. I couldn't remember what happened to me. Link grimaced and pulled the sheets from my chest. I winced loudly.

My entire upper half was covered in bandages so thick I couldn't tell where they began and where they ended. The pearly white material was speckled red.

"How long have I been out?" I asked. "Almost three weeks." Link said quietly, "Three weeks ago, Pipit and I found you lying outside in the dead of night, bleeding out. We carried you to his house and patched you up. Do you remember what happened?" I thought and thought and wrestled with my thoughts, but I could remember nothing. Not even who I was or what I looked like.

"Who am I?" I whispered, panic stricken again, "Where am I?"

"Shh. It's okay." Link said soothingly, "You're in Skyloft, in the safest house in the town. The only people who know you're here are me, Zelda, Pipit, and his mother. You're safe. Look. You want to know who you are?" He held a picture to my face; I didn't know the man in it.

He was sickeningly pale, with soft blue eyes, ratty brown hair, and a thin face spotted with horribly colored bruises. "Who..." The man in the picture opened his mouth and furrowed his brow.

"That's me." I stated more than asked. "Yes." Link confirmed, "That's you."

I stared into the mirror. My reflection stared back.

Link put it back on the table. "Just to clarify," said Link, "You don't remember ANYTHING?"

I heard a scream and laughter, I saw gold and darkness and a face.

"...No. Nothing." I answered. He nodded. "Alright. If you remember anything, just let someone know. Okay?" "Okay."

"You should get some rest." "Okay." He put a warm rag over my forehead, then sat back down.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep instantly.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys. This chapter's LITTLE boring, but next chapter will be better. I promise. I will have several OCs in this story and the first is introduced in this chapter. I own nothing but the OCs scattered throughout the story which I will tell you about. Hope you like it, because I was super excited to write it.**

Link's POV

Soren had been motionless for days. I could've sworn he was getting better, but for the past three days, he hadn't moved an inch. He hadn't made a sound and he wouldn't accept food or drink.

I sighed, wearily, opening the door to Pipit's house. Zelda was napping on the wooden chair across from our patient. Her hand was tightly squeezing his.

I half-smiled and approached the bed. I looked down at Soren's green tinged face. He was sick, almost too sick to care for. Mallara kept trying though, no matter how bad he got and so did Zelda. I suppose it was their female instincts to care for someone that was hurt.

Word about Pipit's unknown house guest had spread when Mallara had run out of medicine. Although she begged me not to tell too many people, Soren needed the medicine, so we needed the help.

So as not to alarm anyone, we colored his hair brown rather than its natural blue. No one needed to know, so no one would know. We had all four agreed to that.

The worst part was that Soren's muscles were shrinking at an alarming rate. If he didn't wake soon, it wouldn't matter what we how much medicine we had or how well we bandaged him or fed him. His body would be too weak to heal. Like a baby bird who had never learned to fly.

I put a hand on Zelda's shoulder and gently shook her awake. "Hm?" She looked around slowly, then yawned. "Did I fall asleep again? How is he? Did he wake?"

I put both hands on her shoulders to keep her from standing up. "Calm down," I said, "He hasn't woken. Not to my knowledge anyway."

She sighed, heavily. "I'm so afraid, Link. I'm afraid that he'll never wake up. That I'll never get to hear his voice again. I don't want to fail." she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

"We won't fail, Zelda. It's going to be okay."

She sighed again.

I took her hand. "Come on. Your shift is over. Let me take care of him now. Go get yourself some rest, okay? That's an order."

She stood up, then squeezed Soren's hand one more time. "See ya, Link."

"Yeah. See ya later."

The door of the house squeaked shut. I sat down on the wooden chair.

Soren was still in the same position he was three days ago when I first spoke to him. I had put the rag over his eyes to help him sleep, but when he slept, he tossed and turned and screamed. I knew something was terribly wrong, but we couldn't pinpoint what it was. Then that was it. When he stopped tossing and turning, he stopped moving completely. He wasn't dead, but I knew he was close. There wasn't much we could do and no one could figure out what happened. He was healing perfectly, but then suddenly his body rejected the healing process.

I took a bowl of water from the bedside table and a spoon. We couldn't give up; we had to keep trying. I tilted his head up and spooned a bit of water into his mouth. I tilted his head back, but the water just spilled back out.

I sighed in frustration. He was still motionless. I tried again, putting several scoops of water into his mouth then quickly tilting his head back and holding his mouth shut. I waited.

A minute went by.

I opened his mouth again. A few droplets spilled out, but the rest had been swallowed.

I gasped in relief. Finally. It had been days since he had swallowed anything. It wasn't much, but it was something. It was hope.

I put a hand on Soren's forehead. He was warmer. I checked his pulse; it was a little better. I smiled, then frowned.

Something was wrong. His pulse was going faster. Too fast. He grunted.

I pulled back my hand.

Our patient started to jerked around. His fingers grasped the edges of the bed and he began to thrash. "No...no!" he yelled.

I grabbed his shoulders to hold him still. He raised his arm and backhanded me. Although his arms were weak, I flew back a few feet and hit my head on the wooden ground.

"Help!" he screamed.

I struggled to my feet and searched the nearby table, frantically. I grabbed the anesthetic syringe and ran back to the bed, my head spinning.

I ducked under another of his flying arms and pressed the needle into his arm. Soren made choking, coughing noises, then whimpered. He was asleep.

And this time I was terrified he would never wake again.

...

I didn't sleep well the previous night. The memory of Soren screaming had stuck.

Pipit said that after I left, he hadn't moved anymore. His pulse was slower too. I feared the worst. Every second could be the second he died and I wouldn't be there.

I sighed. Whoever was in the bath needed to hurry. I had knight duty in twenty minutes and someone was hogging all the hot water.

I knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" called a female voice. A song floated through the door.

I leaned against the wall. The door flew open.

"Hello Link." It was Calandra, and she was only wearing a towel. "You called?" she said, wringing her long red hair out on the wood flooring.

"Shouldn't you do that on the stone floor? You'll ruin the wood."

She grinned a devilish grin. "I should, but I won't."

"And shouldn't you put some more clothes on before you go around talking to people?"

Her grin widened. "I should...but I won't." she said again.

I rolled my eyes.

Normally things would've been very awkward, but I knew Calandra fairly well and she was known to do things like this.

Calandra was the newest recruit in the Knight Academy, although I could never figure out why she joined in the first place. She complained, she talked during class, she could barely control her Loftwing, and she hated when people told her what to do. I wasn't even sure how we became friends.

She started braiding her hair. "So what do you need?" she asked.

"I need you to get out of the bath so that I can get in. I have to fly in a few minutes."

"Sorry, mister bossy pants. I have crap to do too. So if you could untwist your undergarments and sit your arse down, I'll finish up in here and it'll be all yours. Okay?" She slammed the door in my face.

I groaned.

Strike that. I REALLY didn't know how we ever became friends. But, despite her foul mouth and snappish attitude, she was a loyal friend. And she did listen, but only when she wanted to.

Five minutes later, she opened the door again, wearing a short blue dress.

"Huh? You going out or something?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes Link. I'm going on a date...with my Loftwing." Her eyes lit up. "Hey. That's an idea."

"What? Dating your Loftwing?"

She ignored my remark. "How about you and me have dinner tonight. My house. Seven o'clock. Bye!"

I caught her arm before she could run. "Woah, woah. Slow down. I'm sorry, Cal. I can't go to dinner tonight. I'm very busy. Sorry."

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh yeah. You'll be real busy. Busy with what though? You don't have patrol duty tonight, intelligence."

I stuttered, looking for a competent answer.

"Well?"

"I am sorry, Cal. I'll be busy tonight. I can't come."

She scoffed and pulled her arm away. "I'm messing with you. I know that you're going to Pipit's house every night. I don't know why, maybe to hang out with your bro or something. But I've heard screaming and cries for help. What goes on in that house?"

I stepped back. "Have you been following me?"

"No! ... Sometimes. Just answer the question!" Her face was a little red.

I sighed. "Fine. I'll show you. But please don't tell anyone. I don't want a panic to run through Skyloft."

She drew a cross over her heart with her finger.

...

I quietly opened the door to Pipit's house. "Come on." I said.

Calandra tiptoed in behind me.

Pipit was sitting in the wooden chair now, but he was awake. "What's she doing here?" he asked, "No one should be here."

I shook my head. "She demanded to know."

"And you listen to her every whim?"

"Who is that?" Calandra interjected. She walked up to him, despite Pipit's complaints.

"That is what we've been hiding here." I answered.

She knelt down next to him. "He looks awful. What happened to him?"

Pipit stood up and straightened him tunic with a 'hmph!'

"We don't know." I replied, "We found him injured a few weeks ago. Took him in to heal him. He seemed fine. I spoke with him a few days ago, but next thing you know, he's out. He's only woken twice and both times he screamed and thrashed around. Like he was in immense pain."

She ran her fingers through Soren's ratty brown hair. "He looks ill. Maybe he's infected."

"Link, you need to escort her out." Pipit said, "She's not welcome in this house and she doesn't need to know about him."

"Why not?" she asked, turning on Pipit. She glared up at him.

"What good will YOU do?"

"For your information, snail eater, I was a doctor's apprentice before I entered the Academy. I can help. Why didn't you ask?" She turned back to Soren, while Pipit mouthed 'snail eater?' confusedly.

I walked over to her. "You were an apprentice?" I asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't that good, but I can help." She studied his face. "Who is he?" she asked.

"We don't know." I replied, "HE doesn't even know."

"He doesn't?"

"No. He has amnesia or something. He says he can't remember a thing about himself or what happened to him."

Cal continued looking him over. I grabbed the bowl of water from the table again.

"These scars," she said, examining his chest, "these are fairly new. Aren't they?"

I nodded, then poured the water into his mouth and held it shut.

"And he's been dormant for how long?"

"Four days now?" I looked over at Pipit, but he just shrugged. "Yeah about four days now." he said.

I held a rag under Soren chin to catch the unswallowed water droplets.

"Well he's probably not infected. You may have an unsanitized syringe or expired anesthetic. Can I see the syringe?" I reached behind me and handed her the needle.

"Well. It LOOKS clean. But to be sure, I'll take it to my old master for-" She was interrupted by a strangled groan.

My eyes widened. "Oh no." I said.

"He's waking up, isn't he?" Cal asked. "No. Worse."

A scream escaped Soren's mouth. The thrashing started. I grabbed the syringe and started towards his arm.

"No!" yelled Cal, "That could be unsanitized. You could be making it worse."

I hesitated. Pipit held down his arms. "Hurry." he said.

"Link, hand me the water bowl." I handed it to her, in a slight daze. She dipped her finger in. She licked it out then spit on the floor. "I know what to do. Hold him there, don't inject him. I'll be right back." She ran out the door.

Pipit grunted. Soren was starting to foam around the mouth. I realized what was wrong. "Hold him there. I'll be right back." I ran out the door, after the redhead.

She jumped over fences and dashed around walls. Eventually I lost sight of her. I stopped and scanned the area. She was nowhere to be seen.

A wooden plate stuck out a few feet away. I ran and leapt over the edge.

I raised my fingers to my mouth and whistled loudly. A screech echoed through the air and soft red feathers swooped underneath me. I twisted my fingers into the feathers.

"Hiya!" My crimson Loftwing shot into the air, allowing me to look over the entire island. My eyes locked onto Calandra's house.

I dove down, the wind whipping at my hair. My hat flew back. I grabbed it with one hand and clung to my bird with the other.

The ground loomed closer and closer. I jerked to the left and dropped, rolling as I hit the ground.

Cal ran up behind me and threw open the door. "I told you to stay with him." she said.

"Pipit's got him."

"For how long?" She threw open a pair of cabinets and tossed out several bottles.

I went to the other side of the house and opened another set of cabinets. "What are we looking for?" I asked, digging through vials and herbs.

"Small pink vial. Smells really foul. Forgotten where I put it." I closed the cabinets and yanked out several drawers, throwing items out as I went.

Pink, pink. Where was that vial? I flipped the drawer upside down, dumping out its contents. No vial.

"Here! Found it!" she exclaimed, "Grab a syringe and we're out of here!"

I scrabbled at the table to grab one before she seized my hand and pulled me back out the door.

I ran to the side with Cal in my grasp and jumped back onto my Loftwing. Cal screamed and wrapped her arms around my neck, almost strangling me to death.

I slipped off when we reached Pipit's house and Cal quickly followed. I fumbled with the doorknob before throwing the door open.

Soren's screams were silenced. Cal had the pink liquid filled syringe in her hand. Pipit wad nowhere to be seen.

We hurried to the bedside.

Soren's eyes were wide open, but rolled back to the whites. His mouth was open and foaming around the edges. His cheeks and fingers and legs kept twitching.

"Tilt his head to the side." Cal commanded, in a panicky voice.

I pushed his head over and Cal, closing her eyes, put the end of the needle into Soren's neck. She pressed the end in, then quickly removed it.

We waited.

Soren wheezed. His eyes slowly rolled back and his eyelids closed.

"He'll be okay." Cal said, "But I think I might throw up now." She ran out of the house.

I wiped my brow. A bit of color came back to Soren's cheeks. I sat in the wooden chair, then grabbed the bowl of water and poured it out the window.

Someone had poisoned Soren's water.

And I would find out who.

**A/N: Wow. That was very exciting. I will probably just switch the POV from Soren to Link throughout the whole story, unless I just get tired of it and stick with Soren. I suppose you guys guessed that Calandra was the OC in this chapter. She has not, nor will she ever be in a Zelda game, because she's probably just a little too inappropriate for the game maker's tastes. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed. Next chapter in ? days. Because not even I know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter** 4

**Link's POV**

"Keep up now!" shouted Pipit over the rush of the wind.

I twisted my fingers into the feathers of my crimson Loftwing and urged it faster. We raced through the bright blue skies, seated dangerously loosely on our birds. Pipit zoomed around me, then darted forward.

"Hiyah!" I directed myself down and up to gain speed. When I was right under my friend's bird, my Loftwing flapped its wings upwards and crashed into Pipit.

The world spun and my protective goggles flew off my head. When my Loftwing righted itself, I saw Pipit hanging from the feet of his, screaming his head off. But not it fear, in glee. "Land on the island!" I shouted to him.

A nice, relaxing island where Orielle had once crashed was not far from us. Someone appeared to already be sitting on it, but there was room.

I tumbled onto the warm green grass, panting.

Pipit splayed out next to me, pulling his goggles off of his tousled brown hair. "Let's… let's never do that again," he gasped.

"Agreed," I laughed.

A shadow leaned over me. "Hello there," said a vaguely familiar voice.

I stood up slowly and met the young man's eyes. "Hello Cassidy," I said, "We were just taking a quick break. How are you?"

The breeze rippled through his light green hair. "I'm just fine, thank you. I was doing a bit of writing in the peace and quiet."

"Wow," said Pipit, almost sarcastically, "When you say peace and quiet…you really mean it."

I never heard Pipit as sardonic as he was when Cassidy was around.

Pipit and I laughed, but Cassidy's expression was deadpan. "I heard about the sick man, Soren," he said, turning to me.

My laughter was immediately stifled. "Did you?"

"I did. How is he?"

"Well, um…." I considered what I should say next. "He's alright, I suppose. Isn't your father Calandra's old master?"

He shrugged. "He's the old scientist-doctor of Skyloft if that's what you mean. And Cal once was his apprentice."

"How is he? And your sister? How are they?"

"Fine and fine," Cassidy replied boredly, "You two seemed to have a good time with your racing."

It was my turn to shrug. "We almost died, but sure. We had a good time."

He sighed, pushing his glasses up, then looked back at Skyloft. "I should check on her. Never know what sort of trouble she's gotten herself into." He turned his eyes back to us. "May I finish that race with you two?"

I looked at Pipit and we both shrugged. "Sure," I replied.

He nodded. "Alright. Three two one go!" he said quickly, then leapt off the island.

Pipit pitched backwards off the edge.

My mind slowly processed what was going on, as Pipit's Loftwing rose into the air.

I whistled, then stumbled off the edge after him, forgetting what order everything went in. My Loftwing's bright red feathers were under me and soon I was soaring through the air once more.

I stopped short when I noticed that Pipit was no longer racing. He was sitting in one spot, looking frantically around the skies.

I flew next to him. "Do you see him?" he asked, "Do you see Cassidy anywhere?"

I searched with him, but the boy and his black Loftwing were nowhere to be seen. Pipit darted to the spot where Cassidy jumped and dove down. I followed.

The further down we went, the more anxious our birds became. "Cassidy!" I yelled into the hazy gloom.

A black spot appeared in the distance, slowly approaching. The spot grew and grew, wings forming, then a head, feet, a rider….

Cassidy's bird collided with mine, sending me spinning out of control.

As the green-haired boy disappeared through the mist, I heard him shout, "Run!"

I panted as I finally regained control of my Loftwing.

Pipit was waiting for me, staring confusedly into the gloom. "Did he just say run?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"From what?"

A loud screeching roar reached our ears. Both of our Loftwings started flapping their wings and shrieking crazily.

"It's the Albino," I yelled over the birds. A white beak snapped between the two Loftwings.

"Hiyah!" We both urged our birds away and up. My feet hit my bird's sides repeatedly.

I could hear the monster bird's beak snapping just behind me. My Loftwing suddenly screamed very loudly. I looked back.

Big red eyes met mine, a thin bleach colored body struggled and flailed, a pure white beak was closed around my Loftwing's tail. It was going to eat us both.

I drew my sword and swung back, but I couldn't reach the monster's beak. My legs could not reach it when I kicked either.

All the sounds around me blurred out, like I was underwater.

I was pulled back further; I was going to be eaten.

Another bird flew by me and its rider hacked at the Albino's head. The white bird screeched, releasing my bird. My Loftwing quickly realized its chance and flapped upwards, away from the bleach-colored creature. The Albino shrieked in rage as I rose through the mist with Pipit just ahead of me, sheathing his sword.

As I steady got higher, with my poor Loftwing fluttering awkwardly and squawking in pain, I heard a piercing whisper run through my ear, "No. We were wrong. It is not you."

I grunted and put a hand to my head.

"Are you alright?" called Pipit.

"I will be," I replied, "But I'm afraid my Loftwing won't be."

We broke through the thick clouds. Cassidy was waiting for us, but was now accompanied by his sister. "Are you two alright?" she asked.

"What took you so long?" Cassidy asked, flipping through his book once more.

I glared at him briefly, before replying to his sister, "We're fine, Pipa. But my Loftwing may need some help."

She nodded, looking extremely nervous, as she patted her turquoise Loftwing's head. "Take him to our house and I'll help him."

All four of us turned our birds towards Skyloft and flew away.

…

Pipa and Cassidy's house was rather small for three people to share, but it was nice.

I was splayed out on the sofa, trying to relax my racing heart. Pipit was sitting in a nearby chair bandaging his shoulder which had been clipped by the Albino's beak. Cassidy was lounging in a plush chair, still boredly flipping through his book.

"Is Pipa still outside?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied, "She offered to bandage my Loftwing's tail. He got a few feathers torn out."

He winced without sympathy. "You're lucky you weren't killed. You knights are always going off on crazy adventures."

"WE go on crazy adventures?!" exclaimed Pipit, "What about you, dropping below the cloud line? Were you trying to get yourself killed? What if your Loftwing didn't come for you?"

Cassidy sat up straighter. "Hey, I know what I'm doing. That's why I'm alive, because I KNOW. You two are alive thanks to pure luck. When I say fly, I'm not kidding. FLY. Don't just sit there with your mouths hanging open like a pack of dimwits."

"Hold up now, hold up," said Pipit, "If you hadn't dropped below the cloud line, we wouldn't have come to get you. Hell, if I wasn't a knight I'd have left you to get eaten by the Albino."

Cassidy put his book down on the table. "I didn't know the Albino was there. I wasn't trying to-"

"You didn't know? I thought you knew everything!"

He became flustered. "I know MOST things, but I do not know the whereabouts of the Albino at every moment of the day."

"Maybe it was safe to assume that he was already down there."

"Maybe next time you should keep your mouth shut!"

The front door swung open and Pipa walked in, smiling. Her smile quickly faded. "Are you two arguing…again?"

Her brother scowled.

If ever there were two siblings who were less alike, it was Pipa and Cassidy.

Cassidy was seventeen, tall, and wore glasses. He loved to study and learn new things and he was always focused on reality. He had short lime green hair and stormy gray eyes.

His sister was almost the opposite. Pipa was fifteen. She was shorter, with long purple hair and pretty green eyes, although everyone always insisted they were hazel. Pipa had a broad imagination, always seeing what could be. Her mind was filled with new worlds and strange happenstances. She loved to write, but she didn't allow anyone to read her work.

Cassidy glared at her. Granted he loved his sister very much, but the two of them never got along.

Pipa crossed the room and sat. "How are you doing?" she asked Pipit.

It was always strange to us that their names were so close, and yet they were so different.

He shrugged, tying off the bandage. "It's just a little cut. I'll live."

There was a brief moment of silence. My heart rate had slowed and everyone was finally relaxing.

The door to the hut slammed open. Zelda stood in the doorway, looking like she was going to burst from terror.

I knew what was wrong before she even spoke. I had been preparing myself for a while.

"Link, Pipit," she said, breathlessly, "There's a situation. Come quickly!"

Everyone simultaneously rose from their seats and followed Zelda out the door.

The only thought that ran through my mind as we hurried down the hill was, "He's going to die this time, isn't he?"

We stumbled all the way down the hill and onto the dirt path. Luckily, we weren't far.

Zelda threw open the door to Pipit's house and all five of us ran inside.

Mallara was frantically dabbing Soren's brow with a rag and Calandra had her ear pressed against his chest. Her face was covered in blood and so was Soren's body.

It finally hit me what was wrong.

All of the wounds on Soren's body, which had long since turned into scabs, were wide open and he was bleeding heavily.

"We need help," said Zelda, "Get rags and water and-"

"No." Calandra soot up and wiped her eyes. "No," she said again, "There's no point. He's dead."

"What? But we've just gotten here!" Pipit exclaimed.

Zelda quietly sobbed and grabbed my hand. Pipa gasped and put her hands over her face.

Cassidy's reaction was much different. He quickly walked over to the bedside. "Excuse me," he said, very very gently moving Cal aside. He examined Soren's body, then held out a hand. "Water," he said, "I need water."

We shuffled around slightly. Did he not understand?

"Water!" Cassidy shouted.

Mallara shoved a bowl into his hands, then backed away.

He poured the water over the body, knelt down, and raised his hands. The language he spoke, I did not understand.

"Deus succurro is vir. Vigoratus suus vulnus quod repleo suus lataseris per aer. Permissum non suus peccata causa suus vita finio, tamen erigo him ut novus vita per vestry misericordia."

I didn't know what was going on; I couldn't even tell what sort of language he was speaking. No one dared move or breathe.

What was going on? Couldn't it be respected that he was dead?

Zelda's quiet whimpers were the only sounds in the room.

Cal put a hand on Cassidy's shoulder. "Cas," she said.

"Just hang on," he replied, "It's going to happen."

"I hate to tell you, Cassidy," I said, "But once a guy's heart stops, that's it. No take backs."

He turned his head to me, probably to make a snarky remark, but was interrupted.

Soren groaned. His wounds had stopped bleeding.

My jaw dropped.

How was that possible? Once you're dead, you're dead. No one could control life and death.

Soren's eyes flew open. He mutter shouted incomprehensible words.

I caught a few: "He's here." "Help me." "Get away."

Then he passed out again.

"He'll be alright," Cassidy said.

"How did you do that?" I exclaimed, "You can't just bring a man back to life!"

"I didn't. He wasn't dead."

Cal raised her hand. "Um, yeah he was. I can vouch for that."

"He was mostly dead. I simply forced his heart to pump again," Cassidy finished, "I learned a bit of healing stuff from my old man."

"That a-hole never taught me any magic," Cal muttered.

The room was silent as everyone slowed their racing hearts and Zelda dried her eyes. I could hear her whispering, "I knew it. I knew he'd make it."

"Well that's it people," Cassidy said, "Go home. Show's over."

The girls made for the exit, but I stopped them. "Hold up," I said, "If everyone would stay here for just a moment. There's something I'd like to discuss with you all."

Everyone turned to look at me.

"I want to start off by saying, a few weeks ago, when Soren was close to death, someone poisoned his water."

Pipa gasped in horror.

"I have not previously divulged this information to anyone. But someone poisoned an innocent man right under our noses and I forced it down his throat."

"Who would do that?" Pipa asked, "Who would poison a helpless man?"

"That's where it gets personal," I continued, "To explain, I'm going to have to start from the beginning." I started to pace around the house. "A month and a half ago, almost two months now, I found this man out in the dark, dying. In that moment, only I knew about him. Then Pipit came along and helped me carry him to his mother's house, to heal him. At that point, three people knew about him.

"Eventually, you figured that we would need an extra person to help us take care of him. I got my most trusted friend, Zelda to help us. Four people.

"Over time, Soren's condition got worse and worse. He should've been healing within two weeks, but instead he was dying. We had to spread the word about him to get more medicine. I don't know how many people knew by that point. Probably half the town, but no one came in, until I told Cal. She insisted on coming in to check on him. Five people.

"It was that very day when we discovered the poison. Now you two are here. Does anyone want to correct my statement?"

Cassidy raised his hand. "Yes. I knew," he said.

"What?"

He sighed heavily. "A month and a half ago, I sat on top of the Light Tower, copying down the ancient scripts into my notebook. I don't often do that, but it helps me to relax. Later that night, I realized I had left my notebook up there. When I went to retrieve it, I saw him lying there."

I waited, but he didn't continue. "That's it?" I asked.

"Yes."

"You didn't tell anyone?"

"I didn't think it important."

"Not important?!" I exclaimed, "Let me tell you something pal-"

"Save your irrational objections," Cassidy interrupted, "No one in this room honestly cares. Least of all, me. And before you say anything of my character, know that I would never hurt a helpless man."

Before anyone could speak up, he began talking again. "It's sundown. Pipa and I have to go." He seized his sister's arm.

"Wait," she said, "What do you mean? How come you did even tell me?!"

"It doesn't matter. We're going home."

Despite her protests, he dragged her out the door and slammed it shut.

I ran my fingers through my blonde hair. "There's certainly more to this man than meets the eye," I said aloud.

Zelda laced her fingers through mine. "And we'll figure it out….together," she replied.

I smiled and nodded.

But why had Cassidy told me his secret if he knew it would only make us suspicious of him? Had he seen something that I hadn't? Was there another secret that he kept? And why had he been copying down the ancient scriptures? It was so very unlike Cassidy to read them, much less write them down in his precious notebook.

Maybe it was time for me to look into them myself…


End file.
